WO2016186416A1

WO2016186416A1 - Method and device for supporting paging optimization

Info

Publication number: WO2016186416A1
Application number: PCT/KR2016/005176
Authority: WO
Inventors: Xiaowan KE; Lixiang Xu; Hong Wang
Original assignee: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
Priority date: 2015-05-15
Filing date: 2016-05-16
Publication date: 2016-11-24
Also published as: CN106304336A; CN113596990A

Abstract

The present disclosure provides a method and device for supporting paging optimization. Firstly, a first evolved Node B (eNB) receives historical access information of a user equipment (UE) from the UE, or a second eNB or a core network (CN). And then, the first eNB generates paging recommendation information based on the historical access information of the UE, and transmits the paging recommendation information to the CN. Subsequently, the CN generates paging assistant information based on the received paging recommendation information, and transmits the paging assistant information to a corresponding eNB. Finally, the eNB receiving the paging assistant information determines a cell to which a paging message is transmitted, based on the paging assistant information. The CN in the present disclosure is facilitated to determine a paging strategy, based on various information, such as the UE's historical access information, the UE's location area information, the UE's location in a cell, and the UE's speed. Thus, the objectives of reducing paging issue of S1 interface, reducing paging range and reducing paging resources may be achieved. Especially for a static UE, or a UE moving slowly, paging resources will be reduced significantly by adopting the present disclosure.

Description

METHOD AND DEVICE FOR SUPPORTING PAGING OPTIMIZATION

The present disclosure relates to wireless communication technologies, and more particularly, to a method and device for supporting paging optimization.

Modern mobile communications more and more tend to provide a multimedia service with high speed transmission for users. FIG.1 is a schematic diagram illustrating structure of a system architecture evolution (SAE) system.

A user equipment (UE) 101 is a terminal device supporting a network protocol. An evolved universal terrestrial radio access network (E-UTRAN) 102 is a radio access network (RAN), which includes an evolved Node B (eNodeB)/NodeB providing a wireless network interface (WNI) for a UE. A mobility management entity (MME) 103 is responsible for managing mobile context, session context and security information of a UE. A serving gateway (SGW) 104 mainly provides a function of user plane. MME 103 and SGW 104 may be located within one physical entity. A packet data network gateway (PGW) 105 is responsible for functions of charging and lawful interception, which may be located in one physical entity with SGW 104. A policy and Charging Rules Function (PCRF) 106 provides a Quality of Service (QoS) strategy and charging standard. A serving general packet radio service Support Node (SGSN) 108 is a network node device in a universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS) system, which provides routes for data transmission. A home subscribe server (HSS) 109 is a home ownership subsystem of a UE, which is in charge of protecting user information, such as current location of a UE, address of a service node, user security information, packet data context of a UE.

In a current network, transmitting a paging message to a UE refers to transmitting the paging message to all the eNBs in the location area list of the UE. When a UE is relatively static or moves slowly, the range of cells camped by the UE is limited. Under this situation, if a paging message is still transmitted in all the location areas, many paging resources will be wasted.

To solve the problem of wasting paging resources, the present disclosure provides a method and device for supporting paging optimization, so as to optimize paging and reduce paging resources.

The present disclosure provides a method for supporting paging optimization, including:

receiving, by a first evolved Node B (eNB), historical access information of a user equipment (UE) from the UE, a second eNB or a core network (CN);

generating, by the first eNB, paging recommendation information based on the historical access information of the UE, and transmitting the paging recommendation information to the CN.

Preferably, the historical access information of the UE is a cell supporting the UE’s location area, which is selected by the UE, or the second eNB, or the CN based on the UE’s location area information;

wherein the UE’s location area information is a location area in a location area list, which is configured by the CN for the UE, or a location area resided by the UE.

Preferably, the historical access information of the UE includes at least one of:

cell information of each cell passed by the UE historically, cell information of an adjacent cell of each cell passed by the UE historically, or historical information of change of the UE’s coverage level, wherein the historical information of the change of the UE’s coverage level is information about a group of coverage levels passed by the UE in sequence.

Preferably, the paging recommendation information includes at least one of:

cell information of a recommended cell, location information of a cell lastly resided by the UE before the UE is released, the UE’s speed, or historical information of the change of the UE’s coverage level, wherein the historical information of the change of the UE’s coverage level is information about a group of coverage levels passed by the UE in sequence.

Preferably, the method further includes:

determining, by the first eNB, the recommended cell based on the historical access information of the UE.

Preferably, the method further includes:

selecting, by the first eNB, the cell information of the recommended cell supporting the UE’s location area, based on the UE’s location area information;

transmitting, by the first eNB, the paging recommendation information carrying the cell information of the recommended cell, to the CN; or,

transmitting, by the first eNB, the paging recommendation information carrying the cell information of all the recommended cells, to the CN.

Preferably, the location information of the cell lastly resided by the UE before the UE is released includes at least one of:

a center of a cell, an edge of a cell, a distance between location of the UE and the center of a cell, a distance between the location of the UE and the edge of a cell, a cell location level, the UE’s coverage level information within a cell, or the historical information of the change of the UE’s coverage level within the cell.

Preferably, the UE’s speed includes at least one of:

static, static with regard to a cell level, low speed, medium speed, high speed, or speed level, wherein static with regard to the cell level refers to that a UE does not move beyond a cell range.

Preferably, the cell information includes at least one of:

a cell identifier, an identifier of an eNB to which a cell belongs, an identifier of a location area to which the cell belongs, time of the UE entering the cell, time of the UE leaving the cell, duration of the UE in the cell, an identifier of an adjacent cell, an identifier of an eNB to which the adjacent cell belongs, or the UE’s coverage level information within the cell.

Preferably, the UE’s coverage level information includes at least one of:

the UE’s coverage enhancement level, time of the UE entering the coverage enhancement level, time of the UE leaving the coverage enhancement level, duration of the UE in the coverage enhancement level, the UE’s coverage state level, time of the UE entering the coverage state level, time of the UE leaving the coverage state level, or duration of the UE in the coverage state level.

The present disclosure provides a device including a transceiver for transmitting and receiving a signal, and

a controller configured to receive historical access information of a user equipment (UE) from at least one of the UE, a second base station, or a core network (CN), and generate paging recommendation information based on the historical access information of the UE, and transmit the paging recommendation information to the CN.

The controller may be referred to as a processor.

The present disclosure provides a device, including a first receiving module and a first transmitting module, wherein

the first receiving module is to receive historical access information of a UE from the UE, a second eNB, or a CN;and,

the first transmitting module is to generate paging recommendation information based on the historical access information of the UE, and transmit the paging recommendation information to the CN.

The present disclosure also provides a method for supporting paging optimization, including:

receiving, by a CN, paging recommendation information from an eNB;

generating, by the CN, paging assistant information based on the received paging recommendation information, and transmitting the paging assistant information to a corresponding eNB.

Preferably, the paging assistant information includes a paging area, which includes a group of paging cells;

wherein cell information of a paging cell includes at least one of:

a cell identifier, an identifier of an eNB to which a cell belongs, an identifier of a location area to which the cell belongs, time of a user equipment (UE) entering the cell, time of the UE leaving the cell, duration of the UE in the cell, an identifier of an adjacent cell, an identifier of an eNB to which the adjacent cell belongs, the UE’s coverage level information within the cell.

Preferably, the paging assistant information includes at least one of:

historical information of change of the UE’s coverage level, the UE’s coverage enhancement level, the UE’s coverage state level, the UE’s repeated paging number, the UE’s capabilities for listening to repeated paging, wherein the historical information of the change of the UE’s coverage level is information about a group of coverage levels passed by the UE in sequence.

Preferably, the paging recommendation information includes at least one of:

cell information of a recommended cell, location information of a cell lastly resided by the UE before the UE is released, the UE’s speed, historical information of the change of the UE’s coverage level, wherein the historical information of the change of the UE’s coverage level is information about a group of coverage levels passed by the UE in sequence.

Preferably, the method further includes:

selecting, by the CN, a recommended cell supporting the UE’s location area based on the paging recommendation information;

taking, by the CN, the recommended cell as the paging area;

transmitting, by the CN, an identifier of the paging area to an eNB supporting the recommended cell, or to all the eNBs within the UE’s location area range; or,

taking, by the CN, the recommended cell in the paging recommendation information as the paging area, and transmitting the identifier of the paging area to an eNB supporting the recommended cell, or to all the eNBs within the UE’s location area range, and

selecting, by the eNB, the paging area; or,

determining, by the CN, the paging area based on the UE’s speed; or,

determining, by the CN, the paging area based on the location of the cell lastly resided by the UE before the UE is released; or,

determining, by the CN, the UE’s coverage enhancement level, the UE’s coverage state level or the UE’s repeated paging number to be transmitted to the eNB, based on the historical information of the change of the UE’s coverage level.

Preferably, the historical information of the change of the UE’s coverage level is information about a group of coverage levels passed by the UE in sequence;

the UE’s coverage level information includes at least one of:

The present disclosure provides a device including a a transceiver for transmitting and receiving a signal, and a controller configured to receive paging recommendation information from a base station, and generate paging assistant information based on the received paging recommendation information, and transmit the paging assistant information to a corresponding base station.

The present disclosure also provides a device, which includes a second receiving module and a second transmitting module, wherein

the second receiving module is to receive paging recommendation information from an eNB; and,

the second transmitting module is to generate paging assistant information based on the received paging recommendation information, and transmitting the paging assistant information to a corresponding eNB.

receiving, by an eNB, paging assistant information from a core network (CN); and,

determining, by the eNB, a cell to which a paging message is transmitted, based on the paging assistant information.

Preferably, the paging assistant information includes a paging area, which includes a group of paging cells, and the method further includes:

ignoring, by the eNB, a location area list in the paging message; and,

selecting, by the eNB, a supported cell from cells in the paging area transmitted by the CN, so as to transmit the paging message to the supported cell.

Preferably, the method further includes:

selecting, by the eNB, a cell from a cell list to which the paging message is transmitted, wherein the cell selected is a cell supported by the eNB, and supports a location area in a location area list.

Preferably, the method further includes:

when the paging assistant information includes a coverage enhancement level of a UE or a coverage state level of the UE, determining, by the eNB, a paging mode and a repeated paging number, based on the coverage enhancement level of the UE, or the coverage state level of the UE;

when the paging assistant information includes historical information of change of the UE’s coverage level, selecting, by the eNB, a maximum likelihood UE’s coverage enhancement level or a maximum likelihood UE’s coverage state level to determine the paging mode, and the paging repeated number, based on the historical information of the change of the UE’s coverage level;

wherein the historical information of the change of the UE’s coverage level is information about a group of coverage levels passed by the UE in sequence;

when the paging assistant information includes the UE’s repeated paging number, initiating, by the eNB, a UE paging based on a repeated number indicated;

when the paging assistant information includes the UE’s capabilities for listening to a repeated paging, not initiating, by the eNB, the repeated paging to a UE without the capabilities for listening to the repeated paging.

Preferably, the UE’s coverage level information includes at least one of:

The present disclosure provides a device, which includes a transceiver for transmitting and receiving a signal, and a controller configured to receive paging assistant information from a core network (CN), and determine a cell to which a paging message is transmitted, based on the paging assistant information.

The present disclosure provides a device, which includes a third receiving module and a third transmitting module, wherein

the third receiving module is to receive paging assistant information from a CN; and,

the third transmitting module is to determine a cell to which a paging message is transmitted, based on the paging assistant information.

receiving, by a first eNB, location area information of a UE from the UE, or a second eNB, or a CN;

generating, by the first eNB, paging recommendation information based on the location area information of the UE, and transmitting the paging recommendation information to the CN.

Preferably, the paging recommendation information includes at least one of:

cell information of a recommended cell, location information of a cell lastly resided by the UE before the UE is released, or the UE’s speed.

Preferably, the method further includes:

selecting, by the first eNB, cell information of a recommended cell supporting the location area of the UE, based on the UE’s location area information;

transmitting, by the first eNB, the paging recommendation information with the cell information of the recommended cell to the CN; or,

transmitting, by the first eNB, the paging recommendation information with the cell information of all the recommended cells to the CN.

The present disclosure also provides a device, which includes a transceiver for transmitting and receiving a signal, and a controller configured to receive location area information of a user equipment (UE) from at least one of the UE, or a second base station, or a core network (CN), and generate paging recommendation information based on the location area information of the UE, and transmit the paging recommendation information to the CN.

The present disclosure also provides a device, which includes a fourth receiving module and a fourth transmitting module, wherein

the fourth receiving module is to receive location area information of a UE from the UE, or a second eNB, or a CN; and,

the fourth transmitting module is to generate paging recommendation information based on the location area information of the UE, and transmit the paging recommendation information to the CN.

Based on the foregoing technical solutions, it can be seen that, by using information, such as historical access information of a UE, location area information of a UE, location of a UE in a cell, speed of a UE in the present disclosure, a core network (CN) may be helped to determine a paging strategy, so as to achieve the objectives of reducing paging issuing of S1 interface, reducing paging range and reducing paging resources. Particularly for a static UE or a UE moving slowly, reduced amplitude of paging resources is significant by adopting the present disclosure.

FIG.1 is a schematic diagram illustrating structure of a SAE system.

FIG.2 is a flowchart illustrating a first method for supporting paging optimization, in accordance with an example of the present disclosure.

FIG.3 is a flowchart illustrating a second method for supporting paging optimization, in accordance with an example of the present disclosure.

FIG.4 is a flowchart illustrating a third method for supporting paging optimization, in accordance with an example of the present disclosure.

FIG.5 is a flowchart illustrating a fourth method for supporting paging optimization, in accordance with an example of the present disclosure.

FIG.6 is a schematic diagram illustrating a method for supporting paging optimization, in accordance with Embodiment 1 of the present disclosure.

FIG.7 is a schematic diagram illustrating a method for supporting paging optimization, in accordance with Embodiment 2 of the present disclosure.

FIG.8 is a schematic diagram illustrating a method for supporting paging optimization, in accordance with Embodiment 3 of the present disclosure.

FIG.9 is a schematic diagram illustrating a method for supporting paging optimization, in accordance with Embodiment 4 of the present disclosure.

FIG.10 is a schematic diagram illustrating a method for supporting paging optimization, in accordance with Embodiment 5 of the present disclosure.

FIG.11 is a schematic diagram illustrating a method for supporting paging optimization, in accordance with Embodiment 6 of the present disclosure.

FIG.12 is a schematic diagram illustrating a method for supporting paging optimization, in accordance with Embodiment 7 of the present disclosure. .

FIG.13 is a schematic diagram illustrating a method for supporting paging optimization, in accordance with Embodiment 8 of the present disclosure.

FIG.14 is a schematic diagram illustrating a method for supporting paging optimization, in accordance with Embodiment 9 of the present disclosure.

FIG.15 is a schematic diagram illustrating structure of a first preferred device in the present disclosure.

FIG.16 is a schematic diagram illustrating structure of a second preferred device in the present disclosure.

FIG.17 is a schematic diagram illustrating structure of a third preferred device in the present disclosure.

FIG.18 is a schematic diagram illustrating structure of a fourth preferred device in the present disclosure.

To make objectives, technical solutions and advantages of the present disclosure more clear, detailed descriptions about the present disclosure will be provided in the following, accompanying with attached figures and embodiments.

In legacy network, a CN paging an idle UE by transmitting a paging message to all the eNBs in the UE’s location area list of the UE. And then, the eNB transmits the paging message within a cell supporting a location area of the UE. The UE’s location area list may refer to a location area usually camped by UE, which is configured by the CN for the UE. When moving within these location areas, the UE will not initiate a location area update procedure in case of the change of location area. For a static UE, or a UE moving slowly, or a UE whose movement range is limited, paging resources may be wasted in case of transmitting the paging message to all the UE’s location areas. Thus, the present disclosure puts forward the following technical methods: based on the UE’s movement speed and the UE’s usually camped cells which are deduced by the UE’s historical information, so as to reduce the paging range transmitted by the CN. The historical cell information of a UE includes a list of cell where the UE passed by historically.

In order to implement the objective of reducing paging range transmitted by the CN by using historical cell information of a UE, the following problems need to be solved.

A first problem: it is assumed that the historical cell information of a UE is delivered by a source eNB to a destination eNB, during the handover procedure of the UE. Along with movement of the UE, the historical information of the UE may be relayed and updated among multiple eNBs. And then, neither the eNB nor the CN learns the location area supported by the cell in the historical information of the UE. When the eNB or the CN selects a recommended paging range from each cell in the historical information of the UE, and adjacent cell thereof, while the selected cells do not support the UE’s location area, transmit a paging message within these cells may lead to waste of paging resources.

A second problem: when a home Node B (HNB or HeNB) is connected to a CN through a HNB gateway (HNB GW or HeNB GW), the CN does not learn how to transmit a paging message to the HeNB GW connected with the HNB or HeNB.

A third problem: for a static UE, a UE moving slowly, or a UE whose movement range is in a limited number of cells, when the UE is located in a center of a cell, the UE probably receives the paging message within the cell lastly accessed by the UE. However, when the UE is located at the edge of a cell, the signal at the edge of the cell is unstable, or the UE moves slightly, the UE may reselect to reside in an adjacent cell. However, the CN currently does not learn the location of the UE in the cell, and may not determine an appropriate paging range.

A fourth problem: the CN already learns the cell lastly camped by the UE and the eNB. For a static UE, a UE moving slowly, or a UE whose movement range is limited within the lastly resided cell, the eNB may not recommend any paging range to the CN. When the UE is in a high speed movement state, or the UE quickly passes through multiple cells, the eNB may also not recommend any paging range to the CN. The CN may still apply all the cells in the location area list resided by the UE to transmit a paging message to the UE. However, the CN currently cannot differentiate these two cases, and cannot determine to adopt what kind of paging range.

A fifth problem: in case of in the poor coverage, some UEs need to enter a coverage enhancement mode. That is, some UEs need to repeatedly listen to a paging message for multiple times, so as to correctly decode the paging message, or need to repeatedly initiate a physical random access channel (PRACH) process to access a network. However, in case of in the good coverage, the legacy paging or legacy PRACH may be sufficient. However, when transmitting a paging message, an evolved Node B (eNB) does not learn the coverage state of a UE, and cannot determine an appropriate paging strategy (paging resource location, paging number, and so on). For example, when the eNB adopts repeated paging, while the UE is just in a good coverage, repeated paging may waste paging resources. When the eNB adopts legacy paging, while the UE is just in a poor coverage state, the UE is not reachable.

A sixth problem: for a UE not supporting repeatedly listening to a paging message, the eNB does not need to adopt repeated paging.

Detailed descriptions about how to solve foregoing technical problems in the present disclosure will be provided in the following, accompanying with attached figures.

FIG.2 is a flowchart illustrating a first method for supporting paging optimization, in accordance with an example of the present disclosure. The method describes how to obtain historical access information of a UE by an eNB, which includes the following blocks.

In block 201, a first eNB receives historical access information of a UE from the UE, a second eNB or a CN.

Optionally, the historical access information of the UE includes at least one of the following information: cell information of cells passed by the UE historically, cell information of the cell which is adjacent to each cell passed by the UE historically, and historical information of the change of the UE’s coverage level. The historical information of the change of the UE’s coverage level refers to information about a group of coverage levels passed by the UE in sequence.

Optionally, the cell information of cells passed by the UE historically may include the cell information of cells passed by the UE historically in a connected state, and/or, cell information of cells passed by the UE historically in an idle state.

The cell information may include at least one of the following information, a cell identifier, an identifier of an eNB to which the cell belongs, an identifier of a location area to which the cell belongs, time of the UE entering the cell, time of the UE leaving the cell, duration of the UE within the cell, an identifier of an adjacent cell, an identifier of an eNB to which the adjacent cell belongs, historical information of the change of the UE’s coverage level within the cell (that is, each cell identifier respectively corresponds to a group of coverage level information passed through by the UE sequentially).

The coverage level information of the UE includes at least one of the following: coverage enhancement level of the UE, time of the UE entering the coverage enhancement level, time of the UE leaving the coverage enhancement level, duration of the UE within the coverage enhancement level, coverage state level of the UE, time of the UE entering the coverage state level, time of the UE leaving the coverage state level and duration of the UE within the coverage state level.

The coverage enhancement level of the UE is relevant with the coverage state level of the UE. For example, the coverage enhancement level of the UE is higher, accompanying with lower coverage state level. Various coverage enhancement levels of the UE respectively correspond to a different repeated paging number. For example, when the UE is under a good coverage state, neither the coverage enhancement nor repeated paging is needed by the UE. When the UE is under a poor coverage state, repeated paging number corresponding to a relevant coverage level of the UE is greater. When the UE is under a second-poor coverage state, the repeated paging number corresponding to the relevant coverage level is less.

In some implementation modes, when the UE, the second eNB or the CN transmits the historical access information of the UE, the UE, the second eNB or the CN could select cells supporting the UE’s location areas based on the UE’s location area information. Only an identifier of a cell supporting the UE’s location area will be transmitted to the first eNB by the UE, the second eNB or the CN. The UE’s location area information may refer to a location area in the location area list configured by the CN for the UE, or a location area camped by the UE.

In block 202, the first eNB may generate the paging recommendation information based on the historical access information of the UE, and transmits to the CN.

FIG.3 is a flowchart illustrating a second method for supporting paging optimization, in accordance with an example of the present disclosure. The method describes how to generate the paging recommendation information by an eNB, which includes the following blocks.

In block 301, a first eNB generates paging recommendation information, and transmits it to a CN.

Optionally, the first eNB may take historical access information of a UE as the paging recommendation information, and transmit it to the CN.

Optionally, the paging recommendation information includes at least one of the following information: cell information of a recommended cell, location information of the cell lastly resided by the UE before the UE is released and the movement rate of the UE. The cell information of the recommended cell may be the same as the cell information in block 201, which will not be repeated here.

Optionally, the first eNB may determine a recommended cell based on the historical access information of the UE. The historical access information of the UE and the cell information are the same as that described in block 201.

In some implementation modes, the first eNB only transmits, the cell information of the recommended cell supporting the UE’s location area, to the MME. That is, the paging recommendation information does not include a cell not supporting the UE’s location area, or an eNB not supporting the UE’s location area. The UE’s location area information refers to a location area in the location area list configured by the CN for the UE, or refers to a location area resided by the UE. The first eNB may obtain the UE’s location area information from the UE, or a second eNB, or a CN.

In some other implementation modes, the first eNB transmits the cell information of all the recommended cells to the MME, instead of selecting cell from the recommended cells based on the UE’s location area.

The location information of the cell lastly resided by the UE before the UE is released may include at least one of the following information, a center of a cell, an edge of a cell, distance between the location of the UE and the center of a cell, distance between the location of the UE and the edge of a cell, cell location level, or the UE’s coverage level information within the cell.

The UE’s coverage level information refers to that described in block 201, which will not be repeated here. Cell location may be demonstrated by the UE’s coverage state level, or the UE’s coverage enhancement level. The UE is more close to the center of the cell, when the UE’s coverage state level is better. The UE is more close to the edge of the cell, when the UE’s coverage state level is poorer. The UE’s coverage enhancement level may be relevant with the UE’s coverage state level. For example, the poorer coverage state level, the higher enhancement level. As a result, a greater repeated paging number is needed. The first eNB may determine whether the UE is located in the center of the cell or in the edge of the cell based on signal strength of the UE.

The movement speed of the UE may include at least one of the following information: static, static with regard to a cell level, low speed, medium speed, high speed, speed level. Optionally, the eNB may determine the speed of the UE, based on the historical access information of the UE. Static with regard to the cell level refers to that the UE does not move beyond the cell range. The UE may move within the cell, or may be static in the cell.

In block 302, the CN may generate paging assistant information, based on the received paging recommendation information.

FIG.4 is a flowchart illustrating a third method for supporting paging optimization, in accordance with an example of the present disclosure. The method may include the following blocks.

In block 401, a MME generates paging assistant information, and transmits the paging assistant information to a corresponding eNB.

Optionally, the MME may take the paging recommendation information as the paging assistant information, and transmit it transparently to the corresponding eNB.

Optionally, the paging assistant information includes a paging area. The paging area includes a group of paging cells. Cell information of the paging cell is the same as that described in block 201, which will not be repeated here.

Optionally, the paging assistant information may further include at least one of the following: historical information of the change of the UE’s coverage level, the UE’s coverage level information, the UE’s repeated paging number, the UE capabilities for listening to repeated paging. The historical information of the change of the UE’s coverage level and the UE’s coverage level information is respectively similar to that described in block 201, which will not be repeated here.

Optionally, the MME generates the paging assistant information, based on the paging recommendation information transmitted by the eNB in block 301. In some embodiments, the paging recommendation information transmitted by the eNB includes a cell or an eNB, which does not support the UE’s location area. The UE’s location area refers to a location area in the location area list, which is configured by the CN for the UE, or a location area resided by the UE.

In some implementation modes, the MME may select a recommended cell supporting the UE’s location area as the paging area, and transmit an identifier of the paging area to an eNB supporting these recommended cells, or all the eNBs within the UE’s location area range.

In some other implementation modes, the MME does not select the paging area. The MME transmits transparently an identifier of a cell recommended by the first eNB to an eNB supporting the recommended cell, or to all the eNBs within the UE’s location area range. And then, the eNB selects the paging area.

When transmitting an identifier of a paging area to an eNB, the MME may only transmit an identifier of each paging area supported by the eNB, or transmit an identifier of each paging area. And then, the eNB may select cells supported by the eNB.

Optionally, the MME may determine a paging area based on the speed of the UE. For example, when the UE is static, only transmit a paging message to the cell lastly resided by the UE before releasing a UE connection.

Optionally, the MME may determine a paging area, based on location of a cell lastly resided by the UE before the UE is released. For example, when the UE is in the center of a cell and is relatively static, only transmit a paging message to the cell lastly resided by the UE before the UE is released. When the UE is in the edge of a cell and is relatively static, the UE probably re-select to camp another cell, such as an adjacent cell of the cell lastly resided by the UE . At this time, the paging area may be the cell lastly camped by the UE and an adjacent cell of the cell lastly camped by the UE thereof.

Optionally, the MME may determine the UE’s coverage enhancement level, the UE’s coverage state level, or the UE’s repeated paging number to be transmitted to an eNB, based on the historical information of the change of the UE’s coverage level.

Optionally, the MME may determine that the UE is static based on subscription information of the UE.

In block 402, the eNB determines a cell, to which the paging message is transmitted, based on the paging assistant information received from the MME.

When the paging assistant information includes a paging area, the eNB may determine a cell where the paging message is transmitted, based on the paging area. The paging area is a group of cells. Optionally, the eNB may ignore a location area list in the paging message, and select a cell supported by the eNB from a group of cells provided by the MME, so as to transmit the paging message. In some embodiments, the eNB receiving the identifier of the paging area from the MME is a home Node B gateway (HNB GW or HeNB GW). And then, the HNB GW or HeNB GW forwards the received paging area to a HNB or HeNB supporting the paging area. Alternatively, the HNB GW or HeNB GW directly forwards the received paging area to all the managed HeNBs or HeNB managed by the HNB GW or HeNB GW. And then the HNBs or the HeNBs select the paging area. Optionally, the eNB selects a cell from the cell list of the paging area to transmit the paging message. The selected cell is the cell which is supported by the evolved Node B (eNB) and supports the location area in the location area list. In some embodiments, the eNB receiving t paging area from the MME is the HNB GW or the HeNB GW. And then, the HNB GW or the HeNB GW forwards the received paging area to the HNB supporting the paging area or the HeNB supporting the paging area, or all the HNBs or HeNBs managed by the HNB GW or the HeNB GW. And then, the HNB GW, HeNB GW, the HNB or HeNB selects the paging area.

When the paging assistant information includes the UE’s coverage level information (including the UE’s coverage enhancement level or the UE’s coverage state level as mentioned above), the eNB may determine a paging mode, based on the UE’s coverage level information, e.g., whether to adopt repeated paging, and number of repeated paging. For example, when a UE is in a good coverage state, coverage enhancement may be not necessary and the repeated paging may be not necessary. When the UE is in a poor coverage state, the corresponding coverage enhancement level is higher, and a larger number of repeated paging may be necessary.

When the paging assistant information includes the historical information of the change of the UE’s coverage level, or the historical information of the change of the UE’s coverage level within the cell lastly camped by the UE, the eNB may select the coverage enhancement level or coverage state level with the maximum likelihood from the UE’s coverage enhancement level or coverage state level, based on the historical information of the change of the UE’s coverage level, so as to determine the most appropriate number of repeated paging.

When the paging assistant information includes the repeated paging number of the UE, the eNB may transmit the paging message to the UE, based on the indicated repeated paging number.

When the paging assistant information includes the UE capabilities for listening to repeated paging, the eNB does not initiate a repeated paging to a UE without such UE capabilities.

FIG.5 is a flowchart illustrating a fourth method for supporting paging optimization, in accordance with an example of the present disclosure. The method may include the following blocks.

In block 501, a first eNB receives the location area information of a UE from the UE, or a second eNB, or a CN. The location area information of the UE refers to a location area in a location area list, which is configured by the CN for the UE, or a location area resided by the UE.

In block 502, the first eNB may select paging recommendation information, based on the location area information of the UE, and then transmit it to the CN.

In some implementation modes, the eNB only transmits the cell information of a recommended cell supporting a location area of the UE to the MME. That is, the paging recommendation information does not include a cell or an eNB, which does not support the UE’s location area.

In some other implementation modes, the eNB will not the recommended cell based on the UE’s location area. Instead, the eNB will transmit cell information of all the recommended cells to the MME.

In the methods illustrated with FIG.2-FIG.5 in the present disclosure, the UE’s coverage level information is involved. To deliver the UE’s coverage level information, the present disclosure provides a corresponding method, which includes the following blocks: A UE accesses a network initially. After a connection between the UE and a network is established, or when the UE’s coverage level information is changed, the UE or eNB reports the latest coverage level information, the historical information of the change of the UE’s coverage level to the CN. The historical information of the change of the UE’s coverage level, or the UE’s coverage level information may refer to descriptions in block 201, which will not be repeated here. Optionally, the UE or eNB may simultaneously report an identifier of a cell where the UE is currently located, and/or, the identifier of the eNB where the UE is currently located to the CN.

Detailed descriptions about the technical solutions in the present disclosure will be further provided in the following, accompanying with attached figures and several preferred embodiments.

FIG.6 is a schematic diagram illustrating a method for supporting paging optimization, in accordance with Embodiment 1 of the present disclosure. The method includes the following blocks.

In block 601, a MME transmits an evolved radio access bearer (E-RAB) release request message, or a UE context release request message to an eNB, to request for releasing a UE connection.

In block 602, the eNB transmits an E-RAB release response message, or a UE context release response message to a CN.

Optionally, the E-RAB release response message, or the UE context release response message includes the paging recommendation information. Contents, generation and transmission of the paging recommendation information may refer to descriptions in block 301, which will not be repeated here.

Optionally, the E-RAB release request message, or the UE context release request message includes the historical information of the change of the UE’s coverage level under the eNB, or the historical information of the change of the UE’s coverage level. Descriptions about the historical information of the change of the UE’s coverage level may refer to block 201, which will not be repeated here.

FIG.7 is a schematic diagram illustrating a method for supporting paging optimization, in accordance with Embodiment 2 of the present disclosure. The embodiment describes the paging initialization, which includes the following blocks.

In block 701, a MME transmits a paging message to an eNB. The paging message includes paging assistant information. Contents, generation and transmission of the paging assistant information may refer to block 401, which will not be repeated here.

FIG.8 is a schematic diagram illustrating a method for supporting paging optimization, in accordance with Embodiment 3 of the present disclosure. The embodiment describes a handover among eNBs, which includes the following blocks.

In block 801, a first eNB receives a handover request from a second eNB.

Optionally, the handover request message includes historical access information of a UE. The historical access information of the UE may refer to block 201, which will not be repeated here. In some implementation modes, when generating the UE’s historical access information, a second eNB may select a cell or an eNB in the historical access information, based on the UE’s location area information. Only cell information about a cell or eNB supporting the UE’s location area information will be transmitted to the first eNB. The UE’s location area information refers to a location area in a location area list, which is configured by a CN for the UE, or a location area resided by the UE.

Optionally, the handover request message includes the historical information of the change of the UE’s coverage level under the second eNB, or the historical information of the change of the UE’s coverage level. The historical information of the change of the UE’s coverage level may refer to block 201, which will not be repeated here.

Optionally, the handover request message includes the UE’s location area information. The UE’s location area information refers to a location area in the location area list, which is configured by the CN for the UE, or a location area resided by the UE.

In block 802, the first eNB transmits a handover request acknowledge to the second eNB.

In block 803, the first eNB transmits a path update request to a MME.

In block 804, the first eNB receives a path update request acknowledge from the MME.

Optionally, the path update request acknowledge message includes the UE’s location area information, which may be a location area or a location area list. When the UE’s location area information has been received in block 801, update the first eNB based on the UE’s location area information received from the MME.

Optionally, the path update request acknowledge message includes the UE’s historical access information. The UE’s historical access information may refer to block 201, which will not be repeated here. In some implementation modes, the MME may select a cell or an eNB from the historical access information, based on the latest UE’s location area information after handover. Only the cell information about a cell or an eNB supporting the UE’s location area information may be transmitted to the first eNB. The UE’s location area information refers to a location area in the location area list, which is configured by the CN for the UE, or a location area resided by the UE. Update the first eNB based on the UE’s historical access information transmitted by the MME.

Under the circumstances that the UE switches to a third eNB in next step, when transmitting the UE’s historical access information to the third eNB, the first eNB may select a cell or an eNB supporting the UE’s location area in the UE’s historical access information, based on the UE’s location area information. Only cell information about a cell or an eNB, which supports the UE’s location area, may be transmitted to the third eNB.

FIG.9 is a schematic diagram illustrating a method for supporting paging optimization, in accordance with Embodiment 4 of the present disclosure. The embodiment describes a handover process among eNBs through an MME, which includes the following blocks.

In block 901, a MME receives a handover request from a second eNB.

Optionally, the handover request includes UE’s historical access information. The UE’s historical access information may refer to block 201, which will not be repeated here. In some implementation modes, when generating the UE’s historical access information, the second eNB may select a cell or eNB in the historical access information, based on the UE’s location area information. Only cell information about a cell or eNB supporting the UE’s location area information may be transmitted to the MME. The UE’s location area information refers to a location area in a location area list, which is configured by a CN for the UE, or a location area resided by the UE.

Optionally, the handover request includes the historical information of the change of the UE’s coverage level under the second eNB, or the historical information of the change of the UE’s coverage level. The historical information of the change of the UE’s coverage level may refer to block 201, which will not be repeated here.

Optionally, the handover request includes the UE’s location area information. The UE’s location area information refers to a location area in a location area list, which is configured by the CN for the UE, or a location area resided by the UE.

In block 902, the MME transmits a handover request message to a first eNB.

Optionally, the handover request message includes the UE’s historical access information. The UE’s historical access information may refer to block 201, which will not be repeated here. In some implementation modes, the MME may select a cell or eNB in the historical access information, based on the latest UE’s location area information. Only cell information about a cell or eNB supporting the UE’s location area information may be transmitted to the first eNB. The UE’s location area information refers to a location area in a location area list, which is configured by the CN for the UE, or a location area resided by the UE.

Optionally, the handover request message includes the UE’s location area information. The UE’s location area information refers to a location area in a location area list, which is configured by the CN for the UE, or a location area resided by the UE. In some implementation modes, when the handover request message includes the UE’s location area information, the MME may update the contents of the handover request message, based on the UE’s location area information in the UE context.

In block 903, the first eNB transmits a handover request acknowledge to the MME.

In block 904, the MME transmits a handover command to the second eNB.

FIG.10 is a schematic diagram illustrating a method for supporting paging optimization, in accordance with Embodiment 5 of the present disclosure. The embodiment describes a handover process among MMEs, which includes the following blocks.

In block 1001, a second MME receives a handover request from a second eNB.

Optionally, the handover request includes the UE’s historical access information. The UE’s historical access information may refer to block 201, which will not be repeated here. In some implementation modes, when generating the UE’s historical access information, the second eNB may select a cell or eNB in the historical access information, based on the UE’s location area information. Only cell information about a cell or eNB supporting the UE’s location area information may be transmitted to the second MME. The UE’s location area information refers to a location area in a location area list, which is configured by a CN for the UE, or a location area resided by the UE.

Optionally, the handover request includes the UE’s location area information. The UE’s location area information refers to a location area in the location area list, which is configured by the CN for the UE, or a location area resided by the UE.

In block 1002, the second MME transmits a forward relocation request to a first MME.

In block 1003, the first MME transmits a handover request to a first eNB.

Optionally, the handover request includes the UE’s historical access information. The UE’s historical access information may refer to block 201, which will not be repeated here. In some implementation modes, the first MME may select a cell or eNB from the historical access information, based on the latest UE’s location area information. Only cell information about a cell or eNB supporting the UE’s location area information may be transmitted to the first eNB. The UE’s location area information refers to a location area in the location area list, which is configured by the CN for the UE, or a location area resided by the UE.

Optionally, the handover request includes the UE’s location area information. The UE’s location area information refers to a location area in the location area list, which is configured by the CN for the UE, or a location area resided by the UE. In some embodiments, when the handover request includes the UE’s location area information, the first MME may update the contents about the location area in the handover request, based on the UE’s location area information in the UE context.

In block 1004, the first eNB transmits a handover request acknowledge to the first MME.

In block 1005, the first MME transmits a forward relocation response to the second MME.

In block 1006, the second MME transmits a handover command to the second eNB.

FIG.11 is a schematic diagram illustrating a method for supporting paging optimization, in accordance with Embodiment 6 of the present disclosure, which includes the following blocks.

In block 1101, establish a radio resource control (RRC) connection between a UE and an eNB.

In block 1102, the eNB transmits an initial UE message to a MME.

Optionally, the initial UE message includes the latest UE’s coverage level information. The coverage level information may refer to block 201, which will not be repeated here.

In block 1103, the MME transmits an initial UE context setup request message, or a downlink (DL) network access server (NAS) transport message to the eNB.

Optionally, the initial UE context setup request message or the DL NAS transport message includes the UE’s historical access information. The UE’s historical access information may refer to block 201, which will not be repeated here.

Optionally, the DL NAS transport message may occur in a connected process.

Optionally, the initial UE context setup request message or the DL NAS transport message includes the UE’s location area information. The UE’s location area information refers to a location area in a location area list, which is configured by a CN for the UE, or a location area resided by the UE.

Optionally, the initial UE context setup request message or the DL NAS transport message includes the UE’s historical access information. The UE’s historical access information may refer to block 201, which will not be repeated here. In some implementation modes, the MME may select a cell or eNB in the historical access information, based on the latest UE’s location area information. Only the cell information about the cell or the eNB supporting the UE’s location area information will be transmitted to the eNB. The UE’s location area information refers to a location area in a location area list, which is configured by the CN for the UE, or a location area resided by the UE.

FIG.12 is a schematic diagram illustrating a method for supporting paging optimization, in accordance with Embodiment 7 of the present disclosure. The embodiment describes an interaction process between a UE and an eNB, which includes the following blocks.

In block 1201, an eNB transmits a UE information request message to a UE.

In block 1202, the UE transmits a UE information response message to the eNB.

Optionally, the UE information response message includes the UE’s historical access information. The UE’s historical access information may refer to block 201, which will not be repeated here. In some implementation modes, the UE may select a cell or eNB in the historical access information, based on the latest UE’s location area information. Only cell information about a cell or eNB supporting the UE’s location area information will be transmitted to the eNB. The UE’s location area information refers to a location area in a location area list, which is configured by the CN for the UE, or a location area resided by the UE.

FIG.13 is a schematic diagram illustrating a method for supporting paging optimization, in accordance with Embodiment 8 of the present disclosure. The embodiment describes a process for a UE to receive repeated paging capability during interaction between the CN and eNB, which includes the following blocks.

In block 1301, an eNB transmits a UE capability information indication message to a MME. The UE capability information indication message includes the UE capabilities for coverage enhancement paging, that is, capabilities of listening to repeated paging.

FIG.14 is a schematic diagram illustrating a method for supporting paging optimization, in accordance with Embodiment 9 of the present disclosure. The embodiment describes a process for a UE to report changed coverage level information to a CN, which includes the following blocks.

In block 1401, the UE initiates an attach request message, a location area update request message, or a service request message to the CN. The foregoing messages include the latest UE’s coverage level information. The coverage level information may refer to block 201, which will not be repeated here. When the UE’s coverage level changes, the UE may trigger the location update request message, and transmit the latest UE’s coverage level information to the CN.

Corresponding to the foregoing method, the present disclosure also provides several corresponding devices, which will be respectively described in the following.

FIG.15 is a schematic diagram illustrating structure of a first preferred device, in accordance with an example of the present disclosure. The device includes a first receiving module and a first transmitting module.

The first receiving module is to receive historical access information of a UE from the UE, a second eNB or a CN.

The first transmitting module is to generate paging recommendation information based on the historical access information of the UE, and transmit to the CN.

FIG.16 is a schematic diagram illustrating structure of a second preferred device, in accordance with an example of the present disclosure. The device includes a second receiving module and a second transmitting module.

The second receiving module is to receive paging recommendation message from an eNB.

The second transmitting module is to generate paging assistant information based on the received paging recommendation information, and transmit the paging assistant information to a corresponding eNB.

FIG.17 is a schematic diagram illustrating structure of a third preferred device, in accordance with an example of the present disclosure. The device includes a third receiving module and a third transmitting module.

The third receiving module is to receive paging assistant information from a CN.

The third transmitting module is to determine a cell, to which a paging message is transmitted, based on the paging assistant information.

FIG. 18 is a schematic diagram illustrating structure of a fourth preferred device, in accordance with an example of the present disclosure. The device includes a fourth receiving module and a fourth transmitting module.

The fourth receiving module is to receive location area information of a UE from the UE, a second eNB or a CN.

Based on the foregoing technical solutions, it can be seen that the CN in the present disclosure may be helped to determine a paging strategy, based on various information, such as the UE’s historical access information, the UE’s location area information, the UE’s location in a cell, the UE’s speed. Subsequently, the objectives of reducing paging issue of S1 interfaces, reducing paging range, reducing paging resources may be implemented. Especially for a static UE, or a UE moving slowly, paging resources may be reduced significantly by adopting the present disclosure.

The foregoing is only preferred embodiments of the present disclosure, which is not for use in limiting the present disclosure. Any modifications, equivalent substitutions and improvements made within the spirit and principle of the present disclosure, should be covered by the protections scope of the present disclosure.

Claims

A method by a first base station, the base station comprising:

receiving historical access information of a user equipment (UE) from at least one the UE, a second base station or a core network (CN);

generating paging recommendation information based on the historical access information of the UE, and transmitting the paging recommendation information to the CN.
The method of claim 1, wherein the historical access information of the UE is a cell supporting the UE’s location area, which is selected by the UE, or the second base station, or the CN based on the UE’s location area information;

wherein the UE’s location area information is a location area in a location area list, which is configured by the CN for the UE, or a location area resided by the UE, and

wherein the historical access information of the UE comprises at least one of:

cell information of each cell passed by the UE historically, cell information of an adjacent cell of each cell passed by the UE historically, or historical information of change of the UE’s coverage level, wherein the historical information of the change of the UE’s coverage level is information about a group of coverage levels passed by the UE in sequence,

wherein the paging recommendation information comprises at least one of:

cell information of a recommended cell, location information of a cell lastly resided by the UE before the UE is released, the UE’s speed, or historical information of change of the UE’s coverage level, wherein the historical information of the change of the UE’s coverage level is information about a group of coverage levels passed by the UE in sequence,

wherein the location information of the cell lastly resided by the UE before the UE is released comprises at least one of:

a center of a cell, an edge of a cell, a distance between location of the UE and the center of a cell, a distance between the location of the UE and the edge of a cell, a cell location level, the UE’s coverage level information within a cell, or the historical information of the change of the UE’s coverage level within a cell,

wherein the UE’s speed comprises at least one of:

static, static with regard to a cell level, low speed, medium speed, high speed, or speed level, wherein static with regard to the cell level refers to that a UE does not move beyond a cell range.
The method of claim 2, further comprising:

determining the recommended cell based on the historical access information of the UE,

selecting the cell information of the recommended cell supporting the UE’s location area, based on the UE’s location area information;

transmitting the paging recommendation information carrying the cell information of the recommended cell, to the CN; or,

transmitting the paging recommendation information carrying the cell information of all the recommended cells, to the CN.
The method of claim 2, wherein the cell information comprises at least one of:

a cell identifier, an identifier of an base station to which a cell belongs, an identifier of a location area to which the cell belongs, time of the UE entering the cell, time of the UE leaving the cell, duration of the UE in the cell, an identifier of an adjacent cell, an identifier of an base station to which the adjacent cell belongs, or the UE’s coverage level information within the cell,

wherein the UE’s coverage level information comprises at least one of:

the UE’s coverage enhancement level, time of the UE entering the coverage enhancement level, time of the UE leaving the coverage enhancement level, duration of the UE in the coverage enhancement level, the UE’s coverage state level, time of the UE entering the coverage state level, time of the UE leaving the coverage state level, or duration of the UE in the coverage state level.
The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the historical access information comprising:

receiving paging assistant information from a core network (CN); and,

determining a cell to which a paging message is transmitted, based on the paging assistant information.
The method of claim 5,

wherein the paging assistant information comprises a paging area, which comprises a group of paging cells, and the method further comprises:

ignoring a location area list in the paging message; and,

selecting a supported cell from cells in the paging area transmitted by the CN, so as to transmit the paging message to the supported cell, and

selecting a cell from a cell list to which the paging message is transmitted, wherein the cell selected is a cell supported by the base station, and supports a location area in a location area list,

when the paging assistant information comprises a coverage enhancement level of a UE or a coverage state level of the UE, determining a paging mode and a repeated paging number, based on the coverage enhancement level of the UE, or the coverage state level of the UE;

when the paging assistant information comprises historical information of change of the UE’s coverage level, selecting a maximum likelihood UE’s coverage enhancement level or a maximum likelihood UE’s coverage state level to determine the paging mode, and the paging repeated number, based on the historical information of the change of the UE’s coverage level;

wherein the historical information of the change of the UE’s coverage level is information about a group of coverage levels passed by the UE in sequence;

when the paging assistant information comprises the UE’s repeated paging number, initiating a UE paging based on a repeated number indicated;

when the paging assistant information comprises the UE’s capabilities for listening to a repeated paging, not initiating the repeated paging to a UE without the capabilities for listening to the repeated paging,

wherein the UE’s coverage level information comprises at least one of:

the UE’s coverage enhancement level, time of the UE entering the coverage enhancement level, time of the UE leaving the coverage enhancement level, duration of the UE in the coverage enhancement level, the UE’s coverage state level, time of the UE entering the coverage state level, time of the UE leaving the coverage state level, or duration of the UE in the coverage state level.
The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the historical access information comprising:

receiving location area information of a user equipment (UE) from at least one of the UE, or a second base station, or a core network (CN);

generating paging recommendation information based on the location area information of the UE, and transmitting the paging recommendation information to the CN.
The method of claim 7, further comprising:

selecting cell information of a recommended cell supporting the location area of the UE, based on the UE’s location area information;

transmitting the paging recommendation information with the cell information of the recommended cell to the CN; or,

transmitting the paging recommendation information with the cell information of all the recommended cells to the CN,

wherein the paging recommendation information comprises at least one of:

cell information of a recommended cell, location information of a cell lastly resided by the UE before the UE is released, or the UE’s speed.
A device, the device comprising:

a transceiver for transmitting and receiving a signal; and

a controller configured to receive historical access information of a user equipment (UE) from at least one of the UE, a second base station, or a core network (CN), and generate paging recommendation information based on the historical access information of the UE, and transmit the paging recommendation information to the CN.
The device of claim 9, wherein the controller is configured to receive paging assistant information from a core network (CN), and determine a cell to which a paging message is transmitted, based on the paging assistant information.
The device of claim 9, wherein the controller is configured to receive location area information of a user equipment (UE) from at least one of the UE, or a second base station, or a core network (CN), and generate paging recommendation information based on the location area information of the UE, and transmit the paging recommendation information to the CN.
A method by a core network (CN), the method comprising:

receiving paging recommendation information from an base station;

generating paging assistant information based on the received paging recommendation information, and transmitting the paging assistant information to a corresponding base station.
The method of claim 12, wherein the paging assistant information comprises a paging area, which comprises a group of paging cells;

wherein cell information of a paging cell comprises at least one of:

a cell identifier, an identifier of an base station to which a cell belongs, an identifier of a location area to which the cell belongs, time of a user equipment (UE) entering the cell, time of the UE leaving the cell, duration of the UE in the cell, an identifier of an adjacent cell, an identifier of an base station to which the adjacent cell belongs, the UE’s coverage level information within the cell,

wherein the paging assistant information comprises at least one of:

historical information of change of the UE’s coverage level, the UE’s coverage enhancement level, the UE’s coverage state level, the UE’s repeated paging number, the UE’s capabilities for listening to repeated paging, wherein the historical information of the change of the UE’s coverage level is information about a group of coverage levels passed by the UE in sequence,

wherein the paging recommendation information comprises at least one of:

cell information of a recommended cell, location information of a cell lastly resided by the UE before the UE is released, the UE’s speed, historical information of the change of the UE’s coverage level, wherein the historical information of the change of the UE’s coverage level is information about a group of coverage levels passed by the UE in sequence.
The method according to claim 13, further comprising:

selecting a recommended cell supporting the UE’s location area based on the paging recommendation information;

taking the recommended cell as the paging area;

transmitting an identifier of the paging area to an base station supporting the recommended cell, or to all the base stations within the UE’s location area range; or,

taking the recommended cell in the paging recommendation information as the paging area, and transmitting the identifier of the paging area to an base station supporting the recommended cell, or to all the base stations within the UE’s location area range, and

determining the paging area based on the UE’s speed; or,

determining the paging area based on the location of the cell lastly resided by the UE before the UE is released; or,

determining the UE’s coverage enhancement level, the UE’s coverage state level or the UE’s repeated paging number to be transmitted to the base station, based on the historical information of the change of the UE’s coverage level,

wherein the historical information of the change of the UE’s coverage level is information about a group of coverage levels passed by the UE in sequence;

wherein the UE’s coverage level information comprises at least one of:

the UE’s coverage enhancement level, time of the UE entering the coverage enhancement level, time of the UE leaving the coverage enhancement level, duration of the UE in the coverage enhancement level, the UE’s coverage state level, time of the UE entering the coverage state level, time of the UE leaving the coverage state level, or duration of the UE in the coverage state level.
A device, the device comprising:

a transceiver for transmitting and receiving a signal;

a controller configured to receive paging recommendation information from a base station, and generate paging assistant information based on the received paging recommendation information, and transmit the paging assistant information to a corresponding base station.